Introducing Part 2...The Birth Story

Ashten Marven   8/28/12   9:58pm    8lbs 10z

 

 

Ashten is four days old today and I am just now getting a chance to go to the bathroom without him being attached to my boob.  I have been asking a thousand questions about this because it seems like this child never gets enough to eat.   It is true, in the first few days, all a baby does it eat, sleep, and poop.  And don't forget the glorious crying spells that you have to figure out which cry is for what. 


I nurse, he naps, he cries, I pray.  I'm so glad that I'm not using formula because I would be in such big trouble and financial debt right now and he's not even a month old yet.  Let the learning begin... 

Okay, so from the beginning, here's what happened:
On this past Tuesday, which was my official due date.  I woke up to my freaking air being out and some serious back and abdominal pressure.  I wasn't really hurting, but it was uncomfortable enough for me to have to sit down rather than try to walk it off.  At this point, my water hadn't broken, I hadn't had any major contraction action, and I had only seen a little blood in the bathroom so my mucus plug had not come out yet.

I called the dr office just see what they would say and they told me to go to the ER just to get checked out.  This was around lunch time so everyone that I could count on was either at work or out of pocket so I drove myself, suitcase, car seat, and baby bag in tow.  I got to labor and delivery about 2 and got hooked up to the monitors and found out that I had been having some mild contractions.  Whaaaa? 

Within 20 minutes, the nurse said that I had had four significant contractions and the doctor would be in shortly to see if I was dilated.   I questioned the nurse about how many centimeters I'd need to be before they kept me because I realized that after I got there, I wasn't so ready to go into labor just yet.  Yeah, like I had a choice.  Anyhoo, she said that since today was my due date and if I was at least 2 to 3, I might as well get comfortable because I was having a baby...today.

So the docs came in and I was two.  They said they would give me another hour to see how I progressed but they decided to admit me anyway.  Within an hour to an hour and a half, I went from 2 to 6 centimeters and the pain started kicking in.  At first, I was dealing with it because it started out as just lower back pain, but then it moved to lower back and abdominal pain and I could actually feel my baby coming down my cervix with each contraction.  It kinda felt like an involuntary urge to push something out.  It wasn't painful, just very uncomfortable but distracting enough that I couldn't focus on managing my pain anymore.  At this point, I was ready for my epidural.

With Al, the epidural took all the pain away.  With Ashten, I didn't have that luck.  It took the pain away for awhile and I could actually feel the medicine as it came into my body.  It kinda felt like something cool flowing into my veins and that freaked me out.  That along with starting to feel the edge my contractions.  At about 8 centimeters, my rapid progression came to a halt.  They had me turn on my sides because whichever side I laid on would thin out, but the other side didn't.  And which each side I laid on, the epidural was less effective.  I ended up getting a dose of something else to numb the edge that I was feeling. 

When I was finally ready to start pushing, they slapped an oxygen mask on me and we went to work.  Seriously, it took a good two to three pushes and Ashten was out.  That involuntary urge to push that I was having was Ashten working his own way out so I really didn't have to do much work in the end.  Good thing because I was in such la la land and it helped that my team of doctors and students (at this point I didn't give a damn about who was or wasn't there, just wanted this baby out) were the bomb.  I actually remember hearing one of the doctors say, "Ok, lets have this baby" and everything went quickly with no complications.  He was born at 9:58pm and weighted 8lbs and 10 ounces.

The pain that I felt was an absolute nightmare and I can't image having to feel that for hours on hours during a natural birth.  Call me a punk, I'll take that.  And I thought the epidural would work it's magic for me, but I suspect they kept my dosage low because they really wanted me to feel the urge to push unlike I did when I had Al.  With Al I was totally numb, but with Ashten, I still had feeling in my vagina because I felt a burning sensation as he was making his way out.  The weird part about it was that both legs had gone completely numb but I could still lift my hips when they cleaned me up. 

I didn't tear enough to need stitches, but I did have a little stinging when I went to the bathroom which I needed to do about thirty minutes later.  In the end, this time around, nothing was what I expected, but everything that I could have hoped for.  The hospital was great, the doctors and nurses were great.  I'm in love with my little noise maker and we are both just thanking God that we had a safe delivery.Bi